king tut
New member
so, i thought it would be a good idea to go hike katahdin today. it turned out to be just a tad warm and humid. i did learn that all my pores on my body are functioning correctly though, and man were they functioning. I decided to drive up last night to baxter, and about 10 miles from the park i encountered what appeared to be the carnage of a wicked storm. branches and tree limbs all over the road, blocking the road for one lane for quite a ways.
so then, this morning i woke up at 5 and went to the gate, and had to wait about 10 minutes for it to open and then proceeded to roaring brook. I headed up the mt from roaring brook and decided to go up hamlin peak first. It was about 6:40 in the morning when i headed out, and it was warm. I have to guess it was in the low 70's that early in the morning. the trail up hamlin was about 4-5 miles from roaring brook and it was pretty gradual, gaining elevation to the top at about 4800 feet. once i got up above treeline, the sun was scorching, and it was hot. that initial climb left me out of breath and gasping for air, as i slowly made it to the top. i have done katahdin 3x in the last two years before today and this one was the most exhausting climb.
so i reached the top of hamlin and i had already drunk 1/2 of my 4 bottles of water, and wanted to drink more, but decided to save some for the rest of the hike. from there, i made my way over the ridgeline and went across the saddle and up to baxter peak. it was about 2 miles from hamlin to baxter, and it was a pretty gradual ascent of another 1000 feet after losing 4 or 500 from the top of hamlin. it felt like a death march at that point, just putting my head down and climbing up. up until i got to the top of baxter, i saw only 2 guys descending from chimney pond and that was it. nobody going up. So then i reached baxter and the fog crept in and i finally saw about 10 people on the top. no good views this day of the knife edge.
after 10 minutes of recuperating at the summitt, my tired mind thought it would be great decision to hike the knife edge next. so off i went, and the first half was easy, i was thinking "this isn't as bad as i remember". then i hit the second half of the knife edge, and i had to climb over the cliffs around the cliffs, and pretty much any direction and cliff climb you can do. i was pretty much brain dead at this point, but i had enough sense in me not to plunge 2000 feet down to chimney pond. just as my energy was sapped, i finished the mile long knife edge and started down from pamola.
I then drank the rest of my water, and made my way down the 3+ miles back to roaring brook. it was a long steep first 2 miles down, and my knees were getting really mad at me. so i took a couple advil and they started to feel a little better the rest of the way. the last few miles were long though, as i had had enough of the heat, aching knees, and swarms of bugs. let me tell you about the bugs, they were insane! i think i was feeling woozy because i lost so much blood. i finally made it to the parking lot, and i drank almost an entire 1 gallon jug of water. i think i was a little bit dehydrated. that was the end of a long hike, and i made my way the pond and jumped in, and it felt great!
so then, this morning i woke up at 5 and went to the gate, and had to wait about 10 minutes for it to open and then proceeded to roaring brook. I headed up the mt from roaring brook and decided to go up hamlin peak first. It was about 6:40 in the morning when i headed out, and it was warm. I have to guess it was in the low 70's that early in the morning. the trail up hamlin was about 4-5 miles from roaring brook and it was pretty gradual, gaining elevation to the top at about 4800 feet. once i got up above treeline, the sun was scorching, and it was hot. that initial climb left me out of breath and gasping for air, as i slowly made it to the top. i have done katahdin 3x in the last two years before today and this one was the most exhausting climb.
so i reached the top of hamlin and i had already drunk 1/2 of my 4 bottles of water, and wanted to drink more, but decided to save some for the rest of the hike. from there, i made my way over the ridgeline and went across the saddle and up to baxter peak. it was about 2 miles from hamlin to baxter, and it was a pretty gradual ascent of another 1000 feet after losing 4 or 500 from the top of hamlin. it felt like a death march at that point, just putting my head down and climbing up. up until i got to the top of baxter, i saw only 2 guys descending from chimney pond and that was it. nobody going up. So then i reached baxter and the fog crept in and i finally saw about 10 people on the top. no good views this day of the knife edge.
after 10 minutes of recuperating at the summitt, my tired mind thought it would be great decision to hike the knife edge next. so off i went, and the first half was easy, i was thinking "this isn't as bad as i remember". then i hit the second half of the knife edge, and i had to climb over the cliffs around the cliffs, and pretty much any direction and cliff climb you can do. i was pretty much brain dead at this point, but i had enough sense in me not to plunge 2000 feet down to chimney pond. just as my energy was sapped, i finished the mile long knife edge and started down from pamola.
I then drank the rest of my water, and made my way down the 3+ miles back to roaring brook. it was a long steep first 2 miles down, and my knees were getting really mad at me. so i took a couple advil and they started to feel a little better the rest of the way. the last few miles were long though, as i had had enough of the heat, aching knees, and swarms of bugs. let me tell you about the bugs, they were insane! i think i was feeling woozy because i lost so much blood. i finally made it to the parking lot, and i drank almost an entire 1 gallon jug of water. i think i was a little bit dehydrated. that was the end of a long hike, and i made my way the pond and jumped in, and it felt great!
